ONTARIO – The intersection of Grove Avenue and Fifth Street earned a reputation as one of the deadliest crossings in the city, prompting officials early this year to make changes.

After seven months of work and $400,000, a three-way signal at the intersection is operational.

“It had become a real safety issue,” said Councilman Alan Wapner.

The council had asked city officials to make the installation as quickly as possible, said City Manager Chris Hughes.

“It allowed us to expedite the process,” he said. “Without the direction from the council, the project could have taken at least nine months to a year.”

Westbound traffic on Fifth Street at Grove has a stop sign. The signal serves Grove and the part of Fifth Street on the west side of Grove.

Northbound traffic on Grove is allowed to make a left-hand turn onto Fifth. But southbound traffic can’t because city officials felt there wasn’t enough room in the street to have back-to-back left-hand turn pockets.

The offset intersection had experienced a host of traffic incidents and had been the cause of concern for quite some time by residents.

A teenager was killed at the intersection in April. That came nearly two years after a traffic death of a 12-year-old at that same location.

City officials have said between 2007 and 2008, there were several broadside accidents at the intersection.

Liset Márquez covers the cities of Pomona, Claremont, La Verne and San Dimas for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. A beat reporter for the Bulletin since 2006, she previously wrote for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. She keeps a watchful eye on city councils and the Dodgers.